NAC to unveil ARV electronic card system

living with HIV and Aids access medication anywhere in the country.
At present, PLWHA only access ARVs from a site where they are registered.
The ARV electronic card system will be launched next month after a nationwide data audit.
NAC monitoring and evaluation director Mr Amon Mpofu said the system would help monitor drug distribution to curb abuse.
Patients will be issued with cards that they present at any clinic or hospital with ARVs.
Mr Mpofu yesterday said: “The electronic tracking system is to monitor drug collections so that we can keep track of people on treatment.
“It enables HIV positive people to collect their medication from different health institutions in the country without falling suspect of double dipping.”
He said the current system does not enable doctors to detect if a person has collected medication elsewhere.
It also limits the flow of information from one institution to another.
The system is NAC’s strategy to increase the number of people on treatment by 19 percent by 2015 in line with the Millennium Development Goals.
NAC aims to reduce HIV-related deaths from the 2009 figures of 66 000 to 46 200 by 2015.
“We also want to increase the number of tuberculosis patients who know their HIV status to 90 percent by 2015,” he said.
Mr Mpofu encouraged more males to go for HIV and Aids testing as current records show a higher percentage of females going for tests.
The high number of women going for HIV testing has been attributed to antenatal visits by women during pregnancy.
NAC urges testing of couples.
Mr Mpofu said they were working hard to ensure that the current two-percent of health institutions that run out of drugs drops to zero.
Zimbabwe’s HIV prevalence rate stands at 14,26 percent.
A decline is expected following increased behaviour change programmes and male circumcision among other initiatives and factors.